Resources for family discipleship can extremely useful in the making and maturing of your children into disciples of Jesus Christ. It is tough to find reliable and engaging resources that remain, above all, Christ and Bible centered. In an effort to help us all disciple our own family well (or prepare to disciple your future family well or help our children parent their families well) I am curating a list of resources.

Caveat – Resources, as good as some are, are not meant to replace parent-led discipleship. God has entrusted the spiritual well-being of the family member to the parents (especially the father) of that family and therefore the primary agent of discipleship will always be the parent. These resources are meant to aid not replace the parent’s discipleship efforts.

Caveat – Resources, as good as some are, are not perfect (unless it is God’s Word itself). I endorse each of these resources because they promote the core of the gospel (salvation for sinners comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone) as God’s Word promotes it.

Discipleship Practices: (Before we utilize the following resources please take sometime each day to personally engage your child’s strength, mind, and heart in these gospel practices. Many times it is the practice of faith that leads to faith in children.)

• Study the Bible with them, both their kid’s Bibles and your “adult” Bible. Getting your children into the groove of reading and applying God’s Word puts them in the best place to learn about and trust in God.
• Sing songs of worship with them, both old and new. Scripturally informed worship songs help kids recognize, memorize, and hold to God’s truth in everyday life. This also prepares children to actively participate in Sunday worship.
• Pray with them and let them pray. Prayer is the act of trusting God because of who He is. Adoring God, Confessing sin to God, Thanking God, and Supplicating (Asking) of God helps children understand their relationship with and faith in God.
• Serve others with them, both inside and outside of the home. Serving others is the practical outpouring of faith in God as it loves God and others. It proves to children the good of faith in God and their call to glorify God in all things.
• Build excitement for Sunday worship. Sunday worship is the pinnacle of the week as it is the gathering of Christ’s body to worship and glorify God. Excitement for Sunday builds a child’s eagerness to witness and participate in faithful worship.
• Ask questions and allow them to ask questions. No child is too young to engage with the truth of God and questions/answers conversations are a great way to lead them in it, especially when they have the room to ask their own questions.

Ultimately the goal of parenting is to glorify God by with the children He has entrusted you with by lovingly leading them to Him and away from sin.

Websites:

• Answers in Genesis – We use this curriculum in our church’s Sunday School program. The online portal is chock-full of free resources and activities for all age groups, all of which span many topics.
• Weave Family – Weave offers free resources for parent-led devos (they ask that you sign up for their newsletter to receive them). A lot of Weave has to do with missions, so their materials tend to focus on God’s heart for all nations.
• Truth78 – This is DesiringGod’s family-focused branch. They sell fantastic gospel-centered resources for parents to disciple and homeschool with. They also sell materials to encourage and train parents in their role as primary disciplers.
• New City Catechism – We also use this in our church’s youth programs. One question, answer, and Scripture per week for the whole year. Plus a kid’s mode that offers songs to help kids memorize these core biblical truths.

Apps:

• New City Catechism – see above for blurb.

Books:

• Big Picture Story Bible – Easy to read and scripturally-informed kid’s picture Bible that tells the big story of God’s forever King coming to bless God’s forever people.
• This is the Gospel – The gospel told from Genesis through Revelation in a visual compelling way, with scripture excerpts and a great final page for parent follow up.
• Long Story Short – A really easy and accessible 5 minute devo for the family. It is daily for a year, so it has a lot packed into it.
• Goodbye to Goodbyes – Christ’s miraculous resurrection of Lazarus helps children understand that Jesus’s victory over death conquers death and sorrow.
• What Every Child Should Know About Prayer – Looking at how major characters of the Bible prayed helps kids learn why and how to pray to God.
• The Beginner’s Bible – Over 90 of the Bible’s major stories are summed up and illustrated for the youngest minds and readers.
• God Very Good Idea – Genesis and the Church show kids God’s plan for us to love Him by loving others and how sin breaks that idea but Christ restores it.
• What Is The Gospel – Details the essential aspects of the Gospel: God is the righteous Creator, man is the rebellious sinner, Christ is the perfect redeemer, we respond with faith and repentance, and in faith we live a righteous life.
• Indescribable – 100 devos from God’s Word emphasized and illustrated by 100 amazing things found in our world today. Great to help the inquisitive imagination grapple with who God is.
• Christian Beliefs – Clearly and concisely guides teens and adults through 20 core beliefs of the Christian faith.
• Parenting – Provides a big-picture view of what parenting is in light of the gospel and how a biblical mindset offers clarity and direction in the day in and day out to-dos of parenting.

Youtube Channels:

• Bible Project – Summarizes and illustrates each book of the Bible and the major themes of the Bible.

Music Channels:

• Sovereign Grace Kids (Spotify / iTunes) – Amazing and catchy songs geared to the littlest of ears. Covers numerous topics (from fear to fun) in light of the gospel.
• Rain for Roots (Spotify / iTunes) – Collaborative effort to bring Scripture to kids through sing-a-long-song so that they would know God and praise God.
• Seeds Family Worship (Spotify) – Takes their lyrics word-for-word straight from Scripture. A great way to help children (and yourself) memorize Bible verses.